Easy Mediterranean Lentil Meatballs
Y’all know I love chickpeas. They’re easy to prepare, versatile, cheap, and full of fiber and other goodies! Chickpea salads have become one of my favorite easy preparations for chickpeas, especially now that it’s mid-summer and a million degrees out. Today I made a light and tangy Curry Chickpea Salad, that you can eat as a wrap, stuffed into a pita, or piled on top of a fresh green salad. It only takes a few minutes to prepare and makes a super tasty lunch!
There are so many different types of curry powder out there and they all have a unique flavor. I haven’t yet met a curry powder that I don’t like, so I can’t suggest one over another, but I’ve tried a few different brands such as Sharwoods, 365, Spice Islands, and Simply Organic. If you want to try making your own curry powder at home, here is a great recipe for curry powder from Hari Ghotra, along with a ton of great info about curry powder, its origins, and ways it can be used.
As I mentioned in the intro, there are a few different ways to eat this Curry Chickpea Salad. I stuffed it into a pita with some lettuce for the photos here, but I’ve also wrapped it up in a tortilla to make a wrap sandwich. You can also scoop it on top of a green salad, or smash up the chickpeas and dip into it with crackers or vegetables.
I didn’t smash the chickpeas this time, but I often do to create a different texture in the salad. It really just depends on what texture you prefer or how you plan to serve it.
Chickpea salads are fun because you can add all sorts of other ingredients to make it fancy, if you have them. I think a grated carrot or diced red bell pepper would add a nice texture and the sweetness would work well with the curry flavor. Finely diced celery would also add a nice crunch, as would some slivered almonds. A few raisins would add a fun pop of sweetness. And lastly, if you can’t do red onion, sliced green onion would be a nice mild option to use in their place.
Love chickpea salads? Try my Scallion Herb Chickpea Salad, Pesto Chickpea Salad, or Sriracha Chickpea Salad Wraps.
First, make the yogurt curry dressing. Stir together ⅓ cup plain yogurt, ½ tsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp honey, 1.5 tsp curry powder, and ⅛ tsp salt. You can use regular-style or Greek-style yogurt, keeping in mind that Greek yogurt will make a very thick dressing.
Rinse and drain one 15oz. can of chickpeas. Finely dice ¼ cup red onion and chop about ¼ cup cilantro. If you want the onions to have a softer flavor, you can slice them first and soak in cold water for about 5 minutes before finely chopping.
Pour the prepared dressing over the ingredients in the bowl.
Stir until everything is combined, give it a taste, and then adjust the salt or other ingredients to your liking. At this point, you can either leave the chickpeas whole or smash them up a bit. It’s up to you!
Today I left my chickpeas whole, but if I were going to serve them with crackers for scooping I’d probably mash them up a bit so the chickpeas don’t roll off the crackers. 🙂 Enjoy your quick, cold, no-cook lunch!
The post Curry Chickpea Salad appeared first on Budget Bytes.
Don’t you just love it when a recipe is as simple as ‘mix + bake’? No pre-cooking, no unnecessary extra steps – just mix together all of the ingredients, and pop it in the oven. And that’s just the case for these vegetarian lentil meatballs (lentil balls? vegeballs? meatlessballs?). They couldn’t be easier.
Other easy ‘mix and bake’ recipes → easy nut roast; baked fajita rice; Boursin pasta.
I served my lentil balls with spaghetti and tomato sauce – spaghetti and meatballs is such a classic that’s hard to improve on. If you prefer, you could equally serve these vegetarian meatballs with couscous and tzatziki, stuffed into pitta bread, or even just eaten straight from the oven (no judgment here). They’re packed with Mediterranean-inspired flavours, and they’re super versatile.
The basic recipe for these lentil meatballs is canned lentils + flour + egg (the same base I used for my cheesy lentil burgers). Once you’ve got that far, you can jazz things up however you like. I added:
If you like, you could easily switch things up to bring a different flavour profile to your meatballs – maybe you could make a Tex-Mex version, or use some Indian spices, for example.
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Here’s what you’ll need to make these vegetarian meatballs. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.
You could certainly mix together the ingredients in advance, and then store the mixture in a sealed container in the fridge for a day or so, until you’re ready to shape and bake the balls. The meatballs are tastiest when freshly baked, but if needed, you could even bake them in advance, and then reheat when you’re ready to eat them.
I didn’t experiment with freezing these balls, but it’s the sort of recipe I have had luck with freezing in the past, so I definitely think it’s worth a try.
The easiest way to reheat these lentil meatballs is in the microwave. They do dry out a little and lose their crispiness when reheated, but they’re still tasty. Alternatively, you could re-crisp them in the oven or air fryer.
I served my meatballs with spaghetti and tomato sauce, which worked beautifully. You could alternatively serve them stuffed into pitta bread with some tzatziki, or alongside some mashed potato.
The post Easy Mediterranean Lentil Meatballs appeared first on Easy Cheesy Vegetarian.
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